Andy Brown

Andy has been writing about the governance of sport for over 15 years. Prior to working on the Sports Integrity Initiative, he was the editor of World Sports Law Report for eight years. He has also worked for the Press Association and has written for numerous trade magazines. He has also created, chaired and spoken at numerous conferences on the business of sport, and produced the Sports Law Show for iSportConnect TV.

Sierra Leone FA officials charged with corruption

Sierra Leone’s Anti-Corruption Commission has charged the President and General Secretary of the country’s football association (SLFA) with six counts of corruption. ‘The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has indicted the President of the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) Madam Isha Johansen and the Secretary General Chris Kamara on six (6)...

Two Italian athletes sanctioned & five provisionally suspended

Italy’s national anti-doping agency (NADO Italia) has announced that two athletes have been sanctioned with bans for doping offences, and five have been provisionally suspended. The country’s national anti-doping tribunal (TNA) approved the national anti-doping prosecutor’s appeal against a decision to sanction 45 year old runner Martina Del Rosso,...

Sports Integrity Briefs – 22 September 2017

• The Polish Anti-Doping Agency (POLADA) has warned that laboratory analysis of Fenix Ground Zero, which describes itself as a fat burner, has revealed the presence of higenamine and phenethylamine. Higenamine is listed as a beta-2 agonist and phenethylamine as a stimulant on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) Prohibited...

Speedway star sanctioned after meldonium positive

Grigory Laguta, a former Russian and Latvian speedway champion, has been sanctioned with a two year ban by the Polish Anti-Doping Agency (POLADA) following an adverse analytical finding for meldonium. A statement from Poland’s PGE ExtraLiga speedway league revealed that Laguta returned an adverse analytical finding (AAF) following an...

Analysis: Diack & Bubka deny corrupt payment for Rio votes

Papa Massata Diack, son of former International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) President Lamine Diack and Sergey Bubka, an International Olympic Committee (IOC) Board member, have denied that a 2009 US$45,000 payment to New Mills Investments is related to any form of corruption. Le Monde reported that the transaction...

Sports Integrity Briefs – 21 September 2017

• The national anti-doping authority of The Netherlands (Doping Autoriteit) has warned athletes against drinking herbal tea processed in Latin American countries, as it could lead to a positive test for cocaine. ‘In Latin American countries such as Argentina, Peru and Bolivia, herbal tea is made where cocoa leaves...

UEFA elects Sorokin, the only candidate to replace Mutko on FIFA Council

The UEFA Congress elected Alexey Sorokin, CEO of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia local organising committee, as a member of the FIFA Council until 2021. Sorokin was the only candidate received for the post, after Vitaly Mutko failed an eligibility test due to his position as Russia’s Deputy...

Sports Integrity Briefs – 20 September 2017

• A File on 4 investigation by BBC Radio 4 has found that certain paralympic athletes are abusing the classification system in order to improve their chances of winning a medal. The BBC reports that International Paralympic Committee (IPC) lawyers are investigating the situation. The BBC alleges that swimmers...

Russia offers financial rewards to Pyeongchang medalists & coaches

The Russian government has published an order that will establish financial rewards for medalists and their coaches at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. The order, which was publicised by Russia’s Ministry of Sport, will provide a 4 million rouble (€57,000) reward to athletes that win a gold...

NADA India sanctions six and suspends three during August

The National Anti-Doping Authority (NADA) of India has sanctioned six and provisionally suspended three athletes during August, its monthly newsletter revealed. It also held ten other hearings during the month into doping cases that have yet to be decided (see table). One athlete was successful in his appeal, halving...

Independent Testing Authority to be operational by Pyeongchang 2018

International federations (IFs) and major event organisers will be able to delegate anti-doping tests to an Independent Testing Authority (ITA) in time for the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics in February next year, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) told the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in Lima. WADA told the...

Sports Integrity Briefs – 18 September 2017

• The deadline for athletes who are part of an international federation’s registered testing pool (RTP) to complete their whereabouts information through the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS) for the October to December quarter is 30 September. Athletes who are part of an RTP...

Sports Integrity Briefs – 15 September 2017

• A sample from Indian discus thrower Arjun has returned an adverse analytical finding (AAF) following analysis at the Cologne laboratory, after the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) asked for a negative sample from the New Delhi laboratory to be re-analysed, reports The Indian Express. The IAAF requested...

IOC appoints Dow Chemical as Carbon Partner

Dow Chemical will deliver a global carbon migration programme designed to compensate carbon emissions from the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) operations. However, its appointment as the IOC’s Official Carbon Partner is likely to re-ignite debate over whether Dow Chemical’s involvement in the Olympic movement is appropriate. ‘The partnership builds...

IOC takes first steps towards Athlete Charter

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has taken the first steps towards an Athlete Charter, by creating a strategy ‘to empower athlete participation in the Olympic Movement decision-making process’, which it has christened ‘All In’. An IOC statement said that Angela Ruggiero, Chair of the IOC Athletes Commission, outlined a...